LOOKING BUT NOT SETTING A DATE

In my Hold Fast! article I shared J. D. Farag’s Mid-East Prophecy Update October 22, 2017 wherein he tells of a significant prophetic event that points to the nearness of a world war. He explains that we are on the cusp of Isaiah 17 and that he believes it will lead to the Ezekiel 38 war.

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. - Isaiah 17:1 KJV

This may be what we should be looking for next. It has been exciting to listen or read what the other watchmen were finding even though I had already concluded that there is NO WAY to know what day our Lord Yahshua is coming! I shared how I came to this realization when I reposted The Rapture: Can the Timing Be Known?

. . . I now believe the Rapture event will be in my lifetime on a day chosen by our Heavenly Father. Just as in the ancient Hebrew wedding tradition, the Heavenly Bridegroom Jesus will come to snatch away His Bride when His Father decides that all is ready. (For more information on this go to ldolphin.org/TheNuptials and biblestudytools.com.)

Why Bother Watching?

This does not mean it is wrong to speculate about His coming, but we cannot be absolute in our findings. I’m sure that when a Hebrew bride was waiting for her groom she tried to figure out when he might come for her. The important thing is to be aware of the imminence of our Bridegroom coming.

Jesus warns the church to watch for Him or He will come as a thief:

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. - Revelation 3:3 KJV

In contrast to this, those who seek the Lord and do watch, will know the nearness of the Rapture:

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6 NASB

It has been my lifestyle to seek the Lord’s face and hope for His coming, but did not research to look for the time of His coming.

. . . Then about two years ago, it was as though the Spirit of the Lord turned a switch to ‘ON’ inside me and I KNEW the Rapture was critically close at hand! [excerpt from The Rapture: Can the Timing Be Known?]

This is what I believe 1 Thessalonians 5:4 is referring to when it says we who watch will not be overtaken like a thief when the day comes. Not that we know the exact day, but that we will be alert to His nearness because of the Holy Spirit putting the awareness within us! 

What DO We Look For?

In agreement with The Watchman's Watchman it is the fulfillment of an event that we are to look for--most likely the Isaiah 17 event must occur prior to the Rapture of the Church Bride.

It is my belief, along with Chuck Missler and many others, that the Overcoming Church will be raptured before the Ezekiel 38 war. As Brother J. D. Farag shared, the total destruction of Damascus will most likely be the catalyst for that war. Rapture dates we were alerted to by watchmen might have coincided with Isaiah 17 and Ezekiel 38, but so far that is not the case.   

It is my belief that the Rapture will be a rescue amid the world falling apart around us in the way of nuclear war, earth-shattering quakes, and perhaps a meteor shower. In essence, escaping By the Skin of Our Teeth!

In the meantime we must be about our Father’s business:

But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

Blessed [is] that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Matthew 24:43-46 KJV 

Caveat: I do not necessarily agree with all the beliefs of anyone whose material I reference. I seek to be led of the Spirit of God as to the sources I use, however, even Spirit-filled Christians only 'see in part' as it says in 1 Corinthians 13:12.